Neighborhood Group to Consider 44-Unit Affordable Rental Complex

Development is always big news in JP. And the Zoning Committee of the JP Neighborhood Council sees virtually every proposal of consequence. The neighborhood group meets Wednesday to consider two projects. The largest is a proposal from the JP Neighborhood Development Corp. to build 44 units of affordable rental housing at 25 Amory St.

The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 1, at 7 p.m. at Farnsworth House, 90 South St.

The smaller item on the agenda is a bid to renovate 20R Spring Park Ave. by expanding its carriage house and making that into a single-family home.

The JPNDC’s proposal for 25 Amory St., according to project documents, would take a parcel that’s now owned by the MBTA and the state’s Department of Transportation and transform it into permanently affordable housing. The city of Boston and the state would “provide capital subsidies necessary to achieve 100 percent affordability.” The units would be kept affordable via “long term deed restrictions.”

As everyone in Jamaica Plain knows, high housing prices have been changing who is able to afford the neighborhood. Most of the recently completed housing developments in the neighborhood are market rate with a certain percentage of the units, usually around the city’s minimum of 15 percent, set aside for subsidized “affordable” units.

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We've heard from Jamaica Plain real estate agents about what they're seeing in the local market -- now they'll share what people have been saying to them and offer their personal and professional advice to buyers and sellers. This is the fourth (and last) article in our series about Jamaica Plain's real estate market.

City Hall went against the recommendation of the JP Neighborhood Council, an elected advisory group, to approve variances for a controversial development at the corner of Washington and Green. Here is the text of the May 4 letter from the JPNC to the ZBA:
Christine Araujo, Chair
Board of Appeal 1010 Massachusetts Ave.,
4th Floor Boston, Massachusetts 02118
Re: 211 Green Street, Ward 11, BOA675434
Dear Ms. Araujo:
At the April 2017 meeting of the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council, held Tuesday, April 25, the Council members voted 9-3-0 to request the Board of Appeal to DENY ALL EIGHT VARIANCES SOUGHT FOR THIS PROJECT because:
1.

Saturday's Porchfest coincided with another big community event -- the 10th anniversary of the Julia Martin House. The 55-unit building offers something scarce in JP: Affordable housing for the elderly.

Boston has the most affordable housing per capita in the entire country. This is great news. These non profit projects are never controversial. Everything is just honkey dory over here. We need more MARKET RATE

Money is Power

Are you a shill for realtors and developers? You can keep your MARKET RATE properties and shove it.

David

are you Kim Jong Un’s chief of staff?
should everyone just live in government housing like you?
knowledge is more powerful than money so perhaps you can get some money after you learn a thing or two…

Lisa Marie Garver

its funny when people that have trolled me are now trolling each other!

As for “market rate now omgggg” A. don’t worry, its coming. B: affordability avgs in Boston reflect the highest prices so there will most likely be a range of affordable units.

This is an affordable building being built were there was literally overgrown trees. Not destroying someone elses home. Not flipping something that once was a safe affordable place for familes, just more stuff thats affordable for the more people.

This is good for your pursuit of the middle class retribution. More affordable housing means more housing that people can afford. That makes sense right?

Anyway, I guess I will see you there. I was planning on going to the Islamaphobia thing but now I think I gotta go to this and throw confetti and ask for more.

GoatWatch

Those overgrown trees were a source of food for goats and pride for the neighborhood. This development is baaaaaad for the dwindling goat community in JP.

Eric Herot

1) Deed-restricted affordable housing is funded with the profits from construction of market rate housing, so the amount of affordable housing we get is directly proportional to the amount of market rate housing we allow.

2) The majority of households living in the Boston area make too much money to qualify for deed-restricted units. Those people need to be able to buy units without a subsidy, but in order for that to be possible, we need to allow enough housing to be built so that shortages stop driving up the prices.

Lisa Marie Garver

Just to emphasize that reading is essential, I quote “Most of the recently completed housing developments in the neighborhood are market rate”

David

As they should be. if JP gets several thousands of more market rate units (built by private enterprise) asap maybe it will be enough to make prices go down as a whole and make it more affordable for middle class working people to move in.

Jay

So, if I don’t qualify for affordable housing, yet I want to live in JP, I can’t because I can’t afford it? So what do I do? I move to a neighborhood that I CAN afford – I don’t complain about not being able to afford a property that is out of my budget. Yet, those who do qualify because of lower incomes DO get to live in JP? And, my tax dollars that I pay because I have a higher income go to those who don’t so they can live where I wasn’t able to? Enough with the affordable housing in JP!!! Either you can afford it or you can’t. It’s called capitalism. If you don’t like it, move to a socialist country and see how that works out for you.

Lisa Marie Garver

Approved!!! 🙂 Funny, I didn’t see any of you guys at this meeting except maybe Eric and even he didn’t really oppose. Sorry, maybe you should take your whining to the next level?